“My appointed time draws near;
in your house I shall celebrate the Passover with my disciples.”The disciples then did as Jesus had ordered, and prepared the Passover.
Mt 26: 18-19
EUGENE’S INEXHAUSTIBLE TRUST IN GOD’S GOODNESS
St Eugene knew darkness and seeming-hopelessness many times in his life. Yet he recognized that in these dark moments, his Savior was present. It was a Passover invitation, and he attests to this in constantly in his writings. Just one of many examples:
Eugene had looked forward to retiring from Marseilles to devote himself more fully to the Oblate Congregation once his 87-year-old uncle retired or died. Unexpectedly, he was appointed to succeed his uncle as Bishop of Marseilles. Unburdening himself to his medical doctor and friend, Eugene revealed his fear about the nature of the responsibility that was now given to him for the rest of his life:
Now here I am, doomed to die in harness and this terrible responsibility that I have always so feared, here it is ready to shatter me…
For myself, I am bewildered when I reflect on it and have to summon up my inexhaustible trust in God’s goodness, in the help of the prayers of the just who still bother themselves about me, in the protection of the saints who have found themselves in the same crisis as myself, to win a little respite.
Eugene’s letter to Doctor M. d’Astros, 16 April 1837, EO XV n 183
THE OBLATE CHARISMATIC FAMILY’S INEXHAUSTIBLE TRUST IN GOD’S GOODNESS
“It is as missionaries that we worship, in the various ways the Spirit suggests to us. We come before him bearing with us the daily pressures of our anxiety for those to whom he sends us (cf. 2 Cor 11:28). Our life in all its dimensions is a prayer that, in us and through us, God’s kingdom come.”
OMI Rule of Life, Constitution 32
It seem to be little bit weird that I should return on Wednesday afternoon of Holy Week and even though I am still in the hospital it was the title that spoke to my heart today: “the daily pressures of our anxiety an inexhaustible trust in God’s goodness.
I had thought I with me y would wait until getting out of the hospital which has it’s own daily routine and rhythm. Having suffered a severe brain injury I have done a lot of resting as well as hard work to get to where I am: and the next steps will be discerned. How is God speaking to me now? To whom shall I be sent? Surely God is not finished with me yet – for it was He who performed a miracle in ensuring that I come out of it alive. Coming out of it I knew that if was he who guided my surgeon’s hands and so had a reason.
Connecting with St. Eugene on this Wednesday before the Triduum and Easter – he too had to quell his questions.
It is good to be back with Eugene and this community. It is where and how my heart resides. My prayers and wishes to each one of you as we journey to and through the cross to resurrection.
Easter Blessings….